Apple Loses This Investment Status

With its stock having dropped more than 36 percent in value since reaching a record high five months ago, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is clearly out of favor with a lot of investors. And one group that appears to have taken a serious issue with the iPhone maker is hedge funds.

Apple, once a darling of this group of investors, has been toppled from its spot as the top hedge-fund position for the first time in three years. According to fresh Goldman Sachs data, the iPhone maker is now in third place, with a total of 67 funds holding it as a top-10 position in the fourth quarter. This is down from 109 funds in the past quarter.

Insurance company American International Group (NYSE:AIG), which was bailed out by the U.S. government during the financial crisis, is now in first place, with 117 funds holding the stock and 80 funds holding it as a top-10 choice. Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), which recently crossed the $800-mark before dropping slightly back, also moved above Apple to be in second place.

“The stock fell 20 percent in the fourth quarter and funds reduced positions by over 30 percent,” the Goldman Sachs report said of Apple. “Conversely, funds raised long allocations to financials by 200 basis points in the fourth quarter, focusing especially on subsectors with exposure to the strengthening housing market.”

Recent 13F filings indicate Apple was sold off by 24 funds in the fourth quarter of last year, including by known names such as Dan Loeb’s Third Point and Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors…